Overview of the missing links (in yellow) the Kunming-Singapore Railway.

The Kunming–Singapore Railway refers to a network of railways, under planning and construction, that would connect China, Singapore and all the countries of mainland Southeast Asia. The concept originated with British and French imperialists, who sought to link the railways they had built in southwest China, Indochina and Malaya, but international conflicts in the 20th century kept regional railways fragmented. The idea was formally revived in October 2006 when 18 Asian and Eurasian countries signed the Trans-Asian Railway Network Agreement, which designates the Kunming-Singapore Railway as one of the Trans Asian Railways.

As of January 2014, construction of sections connecting China with Vietnam, China with Myanmar and Laos with Vietnam are under way. Work on sections in Myanmar and Laos were set to begin in early 2011 with Chinese assistance, but have been delayed. A high-speed rail project in Vietnam with Japanese support was cancelled in 2010 due to high cost. Those sections were originally expected to be completed in 2020.[4] The railway network is expected to increase regional economic integration and increase China's economic ties with Southeast Asia.[4][5]

A continuous metre-gauge rail line from Kunming to Singapore via Hanoi, Saigon, Phenom Penh, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur was not realized as the French never built the "missing link" between Phnom Penh and Saigon, choosing to build a highway instead.[8]

In 2000, ASEAN proposed completing the Kunming to Singapore Railway, via Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (former Saigon), Phnom Penh, and Bangkok.[6][9][10] This 5,500 km (3,400 mi) route is now known as the Eastern Route. In 2004, ASEAN and China proposed the shorter Western Route, which instead of running east through Vietnam and Cambodia, would go west from Kunming to Myanmar and then to Bangkok.[11] In 2007 ASEAN and China proposed building three routes, the Eastern, Western and a Central Route via Laos.[12]

Savannakhet–Lao Bao Railway, a 220 km (140 mi), electrified double track, high-speed railway from Savannakhet in Savannakhet Province, on the Thai border, to Lao Bảo in Vietnam's Quảng Trị Province. The project costs $4 billion and is being built by the Giant Consolidated of Malaysia.[13] A ground breaking ceremony was held in Ban Naxai on December 18, 2013.[14] This line will also be extended to the Port of Danang in Vietnam, and give landlocked Laos an outlet to the South China Sea.[14]

In Cambodia

The disconnected rail link from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City is being reconsidered. The cost for construction is estimated around $600 million and the Chinese government will fund most proportion of construction. The Cambodian government will deal with the relocation of people who will be affected by the proposed new railway construction.

The Central Route including the Bangkok to Singapore section will be 3,900 km (2,400 mi) in length.[4] When completed, a trip from Kunming to Singapore would take 10 hours by rail on the Central Route (compared to 72 hours from Vientiane to Singapore in April 2011).[4][15][16][17] The line will be used to transport both passengers and cargo.[5][18]

Yuxi–Mohan Railway, 503 km standard gauge railway from Yuxi to Mohan at the border with Laos (under planning). This line was originally planned to begin construction by the end of 2010, but has been delayed. Construction of a railway logistics hub in Mohan began in early 2011.[19]

Boten-Vientane Railway, 421 km (262 mi) standard gauge line from Boten in Luang Namtha Province on the border with China, to Vientane, on the border with Thailand.

This line was originally planned as a high-speed rail joint-venture between the Laotian government and the China Railway Corporation, the Chinese state rail operator, and set to begin construction on April 25, 2011 but was delayed due to a corruption scandal that removed the Chinese railway minister, Liu Zhijun from office.[1][4] The Laotian government then became the sole investor in the project, which is funded with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China that would cover 70% of the project's cost of $7 billion.[20][21][22] The project was downgraded to a conventional speed railway with a maximum speed of 160 km/h instead of 200 km/h.[21] As the terrain in Laos is mountainous, 76 bridges and 154 tunnels will need to be built.[21] Unexploded bombs that have been dropped during the Vietnam War will have to be removed.[19][5]

The loan finance arrangement for this line was criticized by economists in the West as too expensive for Laos.[23] There is also controversy over villagers whose houses will have to be moved to accommodate the new railway line. One village, Bopiat in northern Laos, has already been moved once to allow the construction of a casino.[22][24] The National Assembly of Laos approved the project in October 2012, but the construction has not commenced because the Chinese state lender has been waiting since July 2013 for the Thai legislature to approve funding for the Thailand section of the railway line. On July 22, 2014, China's Exim Bank suspended loans to Laotian infrastructure projects, leaving the rail project in jeopardy.[25] On July 28, 2014, at a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing, Laotian president Choummaly Sayasone asked the Chinese government to continue its assistance of rail development in Laos.[26]

In October 2014, Radio Free Asia reported that China had made a new pledge to finance the project as talks between the two countries continued.[27]

Planning for these lines began during the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of the Democratic Party, which agreed to borrow $400 million from China to purchase materials and expertise, and build one high speed line to Nong Khai Province to the north and another to the Padang Basar on the Malaysian border to the south.[28] When Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of the Puea Thai Party took office in August 2011, the Thai government initially scaled back those plans and proposed shorter lines that connected Thai cities but did not reach international frontiers.[28] Supoj Sablorm, the secretary of the Thai Ministry of Transport, explained that Thailand was not in a rush to build a high-speed rail line to Laos because the Chinese-backed project in Laos had been delayed to beyond 2014.[28] A year later in August 2012, the Thai government announced the plans to build four high-speed rail lines, including extensions to Nong Khai and Hat Yai by 2022.[29] In October 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, on a visit to Thailand, promoted Chinese high-speed rail technology and offered loan packages for high-speed rail construction that are partially repayable with rice and rubber.[30]

On November 19, 2013, the Thai Senate passed a bill that authorized the government to borrow $69.5 billion to fund high-speed rail and other infrastructure projects in Thailand without going through the annual government budgeting process.[31] The opposition Democratic Party challenged the spending bill in court and a judge expressed doubt about the necessity of high-speed rail for Thailand.[32] The ensuing political protests in Bangkok, which began in December 2013 and continued through February 2014, has paralyzed the Thai government and prevented further decision-making of the rail project.

On July 30, 2014, Thai army chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha, whose forces seized control of the government through a bloodless coup in May, announced plans to build two high-speed rail lines as part of a 741.4 billion baht transportation program.[2] The Nong Khai to Map Ta Phut line, 737 kilometres (458 mi) in length, would run from the Laotian border near Vientane to the Gulf of Thailand.[2] The Chiang Khong to Ban Phachi line, 655 kilometres (407 mi) in length, would run from Chiang Rai near the northern tip of Thailand to Ayutthaya just north of Bangkok.[2] The two lines would allow trains to travel at a top speed of 160 km/h.[2] Construction is scheduled to begin in 2015 and will be completed in 2021.[2]

In November 2014, after a meeting between Li Keqiang and Prayut Chan-o-cha, China agreed to lend Thailand funds to build dual-track standard gauge midspeed railways on the Bankok-Nong Khai, Bangkok-Map Ta Phut, and Kaeng Khoi-Map Ta Phut routes.[33] The loans could be repaid with rice and rubber.[33] On December 4, 2014, the Thai National Legislative Assembly voted 187-0 with seven abstensions to approve loans for the Nong Khai-Map Ta Phut and Kaeng Khoi-Bangkok lines.[34] China would undertake construction and development of the lines but would not receive land use rights along the along the routes.[34] On December 19, 2014, the two countries signed a memorandum to build the railways.[35]

Kunming–Yangon High-Speed Railway (Myanmar section), from Muse in the Shan State on the border with China to Yangon with maximum train speeds of 170-200 km/h.

The Kunming-Yangon High-Speed Railway forms a portion of the 1,215 km (755 mi) high-speed railway from Kunming to Rakhine State on the Bay of Bengal.[36] In late November 2010, Chinese state media reported that the railway would begin construction in about two months.[37] But in March 2011, the Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming stated that the project was delayed due to the first elections in Myanmar in 20 years and differences in the railway gauge of the two countries.[38] He explained the Chinese rail developers were waiting for the new cabinet in Myanmar to form and expressed hope that work on the line would begin before the end of 2011.[38]

On July 18, 2014, the Myanmar government cancelled the project, citing opposition from civil rights groups, villagers and the general public.[36]

Yangon-Myitkyina Railway, from Yangon to Myitkyina, near the border with China (existing railway).

In December 2013, the Myanmar government began to discuss the upgrade of the existing Yangon-Myitkyina Railway with the Asian Development Bank and the government of South Korea.[39]

In December 2013, Japanese media reported that the Myanmar and Japanese governments had reached an agreement to upgrade this line.[39]

Yangon-Bangkok Railway.

In May 2012, the Railway Minister Aung Min of Myanmar announced that a feasibility study would be undertaken to rebuild the 105-km stretch of the Thai-Burma Railway from the Three Pagoda Pass to the Thai border.[40] The railway could be reopened, he said, with international assistance and promote development in the region and peace with ethnic Shan and Karen rebels in the border areas.[40]